MTG Character Profile: Sarkhan Vol

This is the fourth in a series of profiles of the
planeswalkers appearing in War of the
Spark. In this article, we’ll examine the story of Sarkhan
Vol, a dragon-obsessed warrior who has served both Nicol
Bolas and his rival Ugin.

Disciple of Dragons

Sarkhan was born on the plane of Tarkir, in a timeline where
the plane’s dragons had gone extinct centuries before. He became fascinated
with stories of the ancient dragons and traveled the Multiverse searching for a
Dragonlord to serve. On Alara, Sarkhan pledged himself to Nicol Bolas and gained
the ability to turn into a dragon himself. As Bolas’ minion, he helped trigger
the Conflux on
Alara and release the Eldrazi titans from their prison on Zendikar.

But Sarkhan eventually realized that Bolas’s plans ran
counter to his own. Bolas wanted Sarkhan to help manipulate and kill other dragons
in the Multiverse. Sarkhan began to doubt his purpose in life and to look for a
way to escape from Bolas’ control.

Fate Reforged

After returning to Tarkir in search for answers, Sarkhan was
sent back in time over a thousand years to discover what had driven the plane’s
dragons to extinction. He learned that Nicol Bolas had killed Ugin and, in
doing so, disrupting the magical connection between the dragons and the plane.
Sarkhan was able to save Ugin using a hedron he had stolen from Zendikar, but
his actions changed Tarkir’s history irrevocably. In the new timeline, Tarkir’s
dragons never died out, and Ugin survived long enough to prevent Bolas from
taking over the Multiverse.

Sarkhan returned to Tarkir’s new, dragon-filled present,
where he befriended Narset,
another planeswalker from Tarkir. At the time of War of the Spark, he is working with Ugin, and has played a major
role in the plan to resurrect Niv-Mizzet.

The Toothiest Timeline

This decklist is all about what Sarkhan likes best: powerful
dragons that set your enemies on fire and steal their treasure.

Mara started playing Magic in 2015 and is a big fan of Magic‘s story and flavor. Her current favorite decks are her Gishath, Sun’s Avatar Commander deck and her Niv-Mizzet, Parun Brawl deck, but she’s always up for a brewing challenge.